


Becoming A Dad Again

by HobbitSizedWriter



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25845955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HobbitSizedWriter/pseuds/HobbitSizedWriter
Summary: Bobby never let himself dream that he would be a dad again after the tragedy that had taken his entire family away from him.Marrying Athena meant he was now, once again, a father.Snippets of the Grant/Nash family
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Bobby Nash & Grant Family, Bobby Nash & Harry Grant, Bobby Nash & May Grant
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	Becoming A Dad Again

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea that popped into my head a few days ago. I haven't written for this fandom before and it's been years since I published any work on here.  
> I don't write regularly but this chapter basically wrote itself. Let me know what you think both in terms of writing style and content. I am always eager to improve my writing skills.  
> I will add more chapters whenever I find the time and mood to write. I do have a few ideas that might develope into more.
> 
> I am not a native speaker so if anything sounds wonky, that's probably why.
> 
> Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story are mine. They belong to their respective owners.

Having a little brother could be very annoying at times. Stealing toys, always wanting to play with her when she had a friend over, taking up too much attention from their parents.

Now that they were older, most of these issues had resolved themselves. Harry didn‘t even steal her laptop anymore since he had finally gotten his own. He had also at some point realised that it was not cool to hang out with his older sister and her friends. And May now was quite happy to let her brother have all the attention from their parents, especially since they had three of them now.

Having a little brother could still be very annoying.

May could have sworn her pack of tampons was still half full when her period had come to an end four weeks ago. Now it was gone. She had emptied out the entire bathroom cabinet.

That couldn‘t be. Who would steal her tampons?

It wasn‘t like there were many suspects to go on. Mom had her own tampons, different kind, different brand. Even if she had run out and used her daughter‘s, she would not have used up the entire pack without replacing it. Bobby wouldn‘t have any use for them and neither would Harry. He probably didn‘t even know that tampons existed, right?

But they did share a bathroom and the cabinet in it. Maybe he had seen them. May sighed and, wrapping a towel around herself, unlocked the bathroom door to quietly call for her brother.

„Harry!“ She didn‘t want to wake Bobby who had gotten home from a 24-hour shift about an hour ago. Harry was already awake. May had heard him talking to their mom before she had left for work this morning.

That was a huge problem. Who would help her get new tampons if the other ones were truly lost?

„Harry!“ May whisper-yelled again. „Get over here!“ He better not be wearing headphones and playing a stupid video game.

She sighed in relief when her brother trudged out of his room.

„What do you want?“ Harry stage-whispered back when he found May peeking out from the bathroom.

„Harry, have you seen my tampons? Little white thingies in a pink and blue box.“

Harry frowned for a second before a grin appeared on his face. „Oh yeah, Jacob and I needed them for an experiment. It was great.“ He giggled.

What? What kind of experiment would two eleven-year-old boys do with tampons?

„All of them?“ May asked tentatively. She dreaded the answer. She wouldn‘t be able to leave the bathroom until Mom got off work and bought her new ones.

„Yeah“, Harry answered her question, still grinning from ear to ear. „They got real big.“ He used his hands to demonstrate the size of an apple.

„WHAT?“ May‘s screech of shock probably had Bobby rolling over in bed.

„You stupid idiot“, she hissed at her brother. „I need one. Right now.“

Harry just shrugged and made to retreat back into his room.

„NO!“ May yelled to stop him from disappearing. „You need to help me.“

In her head she was weighing her options. Mom wouldn‘t appreciate it at all if May called her to demand she drop everything at work and come running to bring her tampons. The closest store was too far for Harry to walk or ride his bike to. She couldn‘t really stay on the toilet all day either. Once Bobby woke up and found her locked away in the bathroom, he would probably have a thousand ideas of what could be wrong with her and simply kick the door down. Or get his saw. Buck had told her that Bobby always called dibs on the saw.

She swallowed as she pressed her legs together. This bathroom wasn‘t going to be spotless for much longer.

„Go get Bobby“, she told her brother.

Harry shook his head immediately. „No, he‘s sleeping. Mom made us promise not to wake him. Unless it‘s a real emergency. Like the house on fir-“

„This is a real emergency!“ May hissed back at him. Harry did not look convinced so she decided to count on her brother‘s ignorance in regards to the female menstrual cycle. „I‘m gonna bleed out. Go get him!“ She got the reaction she had been hoping for.

Harry‘s eyes widened immediately and he turned to run down the hall and down the stairs.

He arrived at the door to his mom‘s and Bobby‘s bedroom. The door was closed. May had said it was a real emergency but he decided to knock anyway. He really didn‘t want to wake Bobby and face his mother‘s wrath once she found out.

His knocks went unanswered, so Harry pushed down the door handle as gently and quietly as he could and opened the door to the bedroom.

The blinds let in just enough light for Harry to see Bobby lying on his belly on the right side of the bed, face turned towards the door, eyes closed. His peaceful breathing filled the silence of the room.

Harry approached the bed on tiptoes. What should he do? Call out? Poke him?

„Bobby“, he whispered.

His stepfather did not move.

„Bobby“, he tried a bit louder.

Bobby scrunched up his nose and slowly blinked his eyes open. He rolled onto his back with a groan and rubbed his eyes.

„Bobby,“ Harry said a third time.

„Harry,“ Bobby sighed and turned to face him. „You alright?“

„I‘m sorry. I didn‘t wanna wake you but May said it‘s a real emergency.“

Bobby‘s eyes widened and he sat up. „What‘s wrong? Is she hurt?“ He threw the covers off.

Harry shrugged. „She said she‘s bleeding out.“

Bobby had jumped out of bed and run out of the bedroom before Harry had even finished the sentence. He quickly followed his stepfather out into the living area as he heard Bobby yelling May‘s name.

„She‘s in the bathroom,“ Harry supplied when he saw that Bobby had stopped in the middle of the living room because he had no idea where this emergency he was trying to attend to was taking place. Harry watched in awe as Bobby seemingly jumped up the stairs without touching any of the steps and disappeared into the hallway beyond.

„MAY!“ Bobby almost crashed into the wall of the hallway in his rush to get to the kids‘ bathroom and his stepdaughter. How could she be bleeding out? Did she fall? Did the mirror break and injure major arteries? Razor blade? She was old enough to know not to drink anything from underneath the sink. She wouldn‘t be bleeding out then anyway, right?

„MAY!“ Bobby yelled one last time. The bathroom door was closed but opened just as he was getting into position to break it down. May peeked out from the crack between the door and the frame.

„Hi.“ She shyly smiled up at him. Bobby stopped in his tracks. He couldn‘t see much of his stepdaughter because she was hiding behind the door but she was standing up and smiling at him, not really symptoms of bleeding to death.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. „May, are you okay?“

„Yeah, sorry, it‘s not really an emergency.“ She paused for a second. „But it kind of is.“

Bobby decided that it was best to simply frown at her.

„I really am sorry,“ she said „but it is all HARRY‘S FAULT“. Her voice got louder with each word and Bobby saw her glare at something behind him. He turned to watch Harry inch his way towards them.

„Okay,“ Bobby supplied because he didn‘t know what else to say. He rubbed his face with both of his hands to give himself two seconds to … he really had no idea what state of mind he was trying to get himself into.

„Is anyone in danger of bleeding out?“ He finally asked. May shook her head.

„Is anyone in need of medical attention?“ Only a head shake again. Bobby sighed. Deeply. And repeatedly.

He wasn‘t angry that they had woken him up when he had just fallen asleep an hour ago. These children were lucky Athena wasn‘t here to unleash their wrath on them for disturbing his sleep after a long shift when she had repeatedly told them to never ever do that unless the house was on fire or one of them needed at least an ambulance.

Bobby was angry that they had almost given him a heart attack with this this-is-not-an-emergency-but-it-kind-of-is situation. He had jumped out of bed thinking that he was in danger of losing another child. He thought he would find May, barely conscious, covered in blood, begging him to save her life.

He had failed to save his children once. He would not survive a second time.

„You could have just woken me up without the drama,“ he finally said and rubbed his face again. „I don‘t mind. You can always come to me if you need help. Even if you just need a band-aid. Your mother doesn‘t even have to know. Okay?“

Harry and May nodded silently, guilt painting their features.

„May told me it was an emergency,“ Harry mumbled as he turned his gaze to the floor.

„Yes, only because you wouldn‘t get Bobby when I told you to,“ May hissed back.

„But Mom-“

„Okay. let‘s not …,“ Bobby was always eager to avoid any kind of argument between Harry and May. His stepchildren didn't fight very often but when they did, and Athena wasn't there to stop them in their tracks with a single loudly spoken word, he never quite knew how to handle it. He wasn't their father. A stepfather, yes, but Bobby still struggled with the concept of authority towards his stepchildren. Athena always told him to just put his foot down but he always feared to get his role in this family thrown back in his face with an angry remark.

Bobby turned to May who was still hiding in the bathroom. „Just tell me what you need, May.“

He watched her shift behind the door. She was wrapped in a towel but he could see her pyjama top underneath.

She cleared her throat. „I need um I need you to go to the store.“

Bobby used his blank face to indicate that she would need to elaborate. Teenagers were so complicated sometimes.

She shifted again. „Um, I need…“ She turned her gaze on a giggling Harry. „THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!“

Bobby stepped in her line of sight to block her view of her brother. Very slowly he asked „What. Do you. Need?“

„Tampons,“ Harry piped up behind him.

Before Bobby had time to fully process this piece of information or react to it, May was yelling again. „BECAUSE YOU USED THEM ALL!“

„Harry used your tampons?“ Bobby couldn‘t decide what facial expression to put on.

He must have looked confused enough for May to explain: „Apparently he needed them for an experiment.“ She said this with enough exasperation for two.

Sensing another escalation, Bobby put out his arms in a pacifying manner. „Okay, just tell me which ones to get and I‘ll go out and get them.“ This was not his area of expertise but he knew enough not to simply suggest that she use Athena‘s tampons for the time being. May would have come up with that idea if this had been an option.

May dropped her gaze to the floor. Talking tampons with her stepfather was probably not her idea of an ideal morning. „I can uh I can google a picture and send it to you, okay?“

„Yeah, alright.“ Bobby smiled at her reassuringly. He knew it must have taken her some effort to ask him for help with this type of dilemma. „You gonna be okay for half an hour?“

She grinned back at him. „Yeah, I don‘t think I‘m in any danger of bleeding out.“

Bobby chuckled and then turned to his stepson who was still lurking behind him. He put on his best frown and his hands on his hips. He knew he was not nearly as intimidating as Athena, especially when clad in his sleep shirt and shorts but he hoped his message was getting across anyway. „What did you do with the tampons?“

To his utter consternation Harry started grinning. „Jacob and I wanted to see how big they would get. His older brother told him that tampons can get as big as soccer balls when they get wet so we did an experiment.“ He looked like he expected Bobby to be proud of his scientific approach to the world around him.

Bobby, instead, was not impressed. Apparently, Harry had not yet realised what emotional turmoil this experiment of his had caused for his sister and stepfather. Bobby sighed and pointed to Harry‘s room. „Go get $10 from your piggy bank. I‘m going get changed. Meet me in the car in two minutes.“

He turned to walk back to his bedroom but was stopped by Harry‘s indignant „What? No!“

The boy faltered a bit when he was met with Bobby‘s incredulous stare but still had enough courage to whine. „I don‘t wanna go to the store, Bobby.“

Bobby put his hands back on his hips. „Oh, you are going. And you‘re going to buy your sister what she needs and you‘re going to think of a way to apologise to her.“ He paused to watch his stepson‘s reaction. When Harry didn‘t move right away, he mustered up his best Captain's voice. „Now!“

Harry jumped and skittered to his room. Bobby turned away and grinned to himself. Stepfather Bobby was on a roll today.

Bobby put a comforting arm around Harry as they walked into Walgreens ten minutes later. His stepson wasn‘t thrilled to be here and Bobby could feel him tense up ever more with every aisle they walked past. Harry kept looking over his shoulder as if to check whether there was anyone in the store who would recognise him.

They finally reached the correct aisle and Bobby felt Harry‘s shoulders slump down even further. „So many options,“ the boy whispered half in astonishment, half in fear. Even Bobby was intimidated. He had bought female products for both Marcy and Athena before but he wasn‘t a regular customer and therefore unfamiliar with the setup. He pulled out his phone to study the photo May had sent him. Then he presented it to Harry who groaned immediately. When Bobby raised his eyebrows at him, Harry waived his hand around. „Hers are pink. So are half the brands in this stupid store. It‘s gonna take ages.“

„Better get started then,“ Bobby sighed. „You take that side, I take this side.“ He pointed to the respective shelves.

„Wait, show me the picture again.“ Harry pulled on his arm to get another look at his phone screen. Then he looked up and down the aisle, visibly bracing himself. „Okay.“

Bobby turned to face the shelf but before he could get started, he heard Harry groan behind him. „These are so expensive.“

„One more reason for May to be mad at you,“ Bobby told him matter of factly but inside his head he flinched at the thought of women needing to pay such high prices for these type of products.

The two of them fell quiet and they worked in silence for about a minute before Harry let out a cry of triumph. „I found them!“ A little quieter he added, „I think.“

Bobby walked up to him and compared the package Harry was holding to the picture on his phone. He studied both very closely to make absolutely sure they were exactly the right kind and then turned to Harry to offer him a high-five.

„Well done, Harry,“ he praised his stepson and gave him a one-armed hug. He shook his head and refused to take the tampons when Harry offered them to him. „You are the one shopping here. I‘m just the driver.“

Harry pouted. Bobby refused to fall for the scam and stirred his stepson towards the end of the aisle.

„So, have you thought of a way to properly apologise to your sister?“ He asked as they exited the world of Auntie Flo.

Harry shrugged and looked up with his most innocent smile. „Say sorry?“

„You‘re gonna have to step up your game, buddy. A simple ‚Sorry‘ isn‘t going to cut it for most ladies. Think bigger.“ Bobby used his arm he had slung around Harry to steer him to the candy aisle.

„Maybe chocolate?“ Harry asked uncertainly, glancing up at his stepfather. Bobby nodded and offered him a conspiratorial smile . „Her favourite kind“, he suggested and nodded to the display of Lindt chocolates.

„Can I get one for myself as well?“ Harry asked as he pulled a bar of dark chocolate from the shelf. „Please?“ The innocent smile was back.

„Did you bring enough money?“

Harry stopped to do the maths, slumped his shoulders and trudged over to the checkout.

Bobby watched, half with amusement, half with pity as Harry reluctantly presented the tampons and the chocolate to the teenage girl at the register.

„What do we learn from this?“ Bobby asked his stepson as they stepped out into the LA sun.

Harry considered the plastic bag in his hand, then looked up at him with a grin. „Not take all the tampons next time.“

Bobby watched from the end of the hallway as Harry knocked on the bathroom door where May was waiting for their return. He listened to his stepson‘s sincere apology and his stepdaughter‘s acceptance of the peace offering. May met Bobby‘s gaze and mouthed a ‚Thank you‘ before closing the bathroom door.

Harry scampered down the hall towards him and took his hand to pull him down to the living room, apparently thinking that Bobby was now available to provide him with entertainment for the rest of the morning.

Lucky for him, Bobby didn‘t feel like going back to bed. „Have you had breakfast yet?“ He asked as he attempted to steer Harry towards the kitchen.

„Just some Cheerios“ Harry answered and wiggled his eyebrows at him.

They looked at each other.

„Pancakes?“


End file.
